There was a prototype refurbished unit which came out in, I think, Summer 1974, and toured the country. I encountered it by chance at Edinburgh Waverley, positioned for inspection in one of the little-used east end bay platforms, there was just one board by the main booking office which invited attention to it, and a couple of junior engineers from the project to show you round. I think I was the only one there at the time. First sight of the "white" colour scheme. A 3-car Met Cam unit, two cars were done to an "efficient" style, and one to a "comprehensive" style, which was actually nicely done and looked a lot like the Mk 3 stock interior. Of course, the cheaper approach was the one that got the nod.
Regarding the 117/118 units, the WR liked the Derby Suburban style, but Derby works were sold out on the steel cars side with 4-car units for the LMR, so Swindon took the drawings and issued them to Pressed Steel in Paisley to build the London sets (the 117s), and shortly afterwards another 15 sets were ordered the same way from Birmingham RCW for the Plymouth area (the 118s). In usual WR style these stayed pretty much in their original areas, and indeed in original formations, for much of their time. Of course the builders did their own interpretations of the drawings, and there were a lot of differences under the skin and in interior furnishing style, although they looked the same. I believe BRCW used more asbestos than Pressed Steel did, which accounts for their lack of a later life. For some reason the 117s were ordered short of three intermediate trailers, and so three of the 118 equivalents were sent to London; the three resulting 2-car sets were also a West of England feature, including in the mid-1960s being used on Taunton to Barnstaple, which was run with Plymouth-based units (Taunton to Minehead, departing from the next bay alongside, was always run with Bristol-based units).
